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Monday, June 06, 2011

Best of the West Coast

This has been zipping around the internets, but I thought I'd throw it out for discussion. In their most recent issue, Beer West has released their "best of" list. They've adopted the idiosyncratic approach of advocacy rating: "We went behind the scenes to look at the history, people, and influence the beer or place has had on the industry as well as their community." I'm reminded of Derek Avent's best breweries of Oregon list a couple years ago--when he selected Block 15. Since any system subjective, highlighting the lesser-known is as valid a criteria as any. (Though that begs the question: why is Vinnie Cilurzo the best brewer? He's about as unknown as the New York Yankees.)

There are gobs of other awards, including a nod to the brewery deepest in the boonies, which goes to Ted Sobel's Brewers Union. Go have a look. I have no real complaints, except that in a list of obscure top fives, an underappreciated brewer would have been nice.

10 comments:

It does not beg the question, it raises the question. Begging the question is a rhetorical fallacy, a kind of circular argument where the premise contains the unproven proposition the argument itself is trying to prove.

For example, if you hear some politician ranting about "revisionist history," they are begging the question, because they are arguing that the original history was correct because the original history was correct. Given the propensity for this type of argument amongst politicians and the media (any given minute of Fox News will have at least one example of it), it benefits no one dilute its meaning.

Daniel, it is possible to offer a correction WITHOUT being a dick. Which begs the question: why be a dick?

In terms of grammar and usage, there's always the proscriptive versus descriptive rules, and grammar fascists are proscriptive. I tend to side with them, but the truth is, you're going to lose this battle. Still, I deserve the critique. Why? Because it's a lazy cliche, a crime that can never be forgiven (even when you're trying to whip out quick content and get back to your book).

Daniel, see what Jeff did there? He 'pretended' to be a dick in response to your perceived 'dickishness.' Not only did he incorrectly use 'begs the question' incorrectly again, this time on purpose, but he then dropped the "I have to get back to my book" with the implied "I'm pretty damn important because I have a book deal and I shouldn't have time to deal with this grammar nonsense."

Anybody want to comment on the quote, “There’s a je ne sais quoi that transcends this beer community that I can’t quite describe?" Is there a more progressive and adventurous attitude in SF, when it comes to beer? To quote another local blogger, can it really be more about "Quality, rather than quantity?" Is there truly a higher level of "beer community" that Portland has not yet achieved? Is there some introspect that needs to be addressed?